Sharpener for knives or scissors.



`No. 69|,I7L' Patented Jan. I4, i90-2.

C. A. PAYNE. SHARPENER FDR KNIVES 0R SGISSRS.

(Application led Oct. 23, 1901.)

(No Model.)

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CHARLES A. PAYNE, OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

SHARPENERFOR KNIVES OR SCISSORS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 691,171, dated January14, 1902.

V.lipplication filed October 23, 1901. Serial No. 79,619. .(No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES A. PAYNE, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of St. Paul, in the county of Ramsey and State ofMinnesota, have invented a new and Improved Sharpener for Knives orScissors, of which the following is a full, clear, and eXactdescription. l

This invention relates to a class of sharpening devices used tol renewthe cutting edges of knives and scissors and embodying blades setat anangle to each other, so as to dispose the scraping edges of said bladesfor engagement with the sides of a knife-blade or of scissors-blades tosharpen the edge of such blades.

The object of my invention is to provide novel details of constructionfor a sharpening device of the character indicated which adapt it forvery effective service and afford a compact, durable, and inexpensiveimplement equally available for sharpening the cutting edges of knivesof different styles and for renewing the cutting edges of the blades oflarge or small scissors.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination ofparts, as hereinafter described, and defined in the appended claims. `f

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure l is an end view of the sharpening device. Fig. 2 is a plan Viewof the same. Fig. 3 is a sectional view substantially on the line 3 3 inFig. 2, and Fig. 4 is a plan view of one of the details which is afeature of the invention.

The improvement, in brief, consists of a flat cutter-plate having spacedblades at opposite sides, a flat guide-plate having fingers on oppositeedges that may be disposed opposite the spaces between thecutter-blades, the guide-fingers being arranged to afford slots for theintroduction of a knife-blade to be sharpened, means to connect theseplates and hold them positioned for service as a knifesharpener, and ascissors-Sharpener formed on like ends of the cutter-plate andguideplate, as will hereinafter be described.

The cutter-plate 10 is formed of a substantially rectangular fiat steelplanchet having greater length than width. Each side edge of thecutter-plate 10 is slotted oppositely at spaced intervals, these slotshaving proper depth and width to provide a plurality of spaced blades 1lat each side of the cutterplate.

The side edges of all the cutter-blades 1l are straight and parallelwith each other, and

sharp corners are produced along said side edges, adapted by properlyhardening the cutter-plate 10 to shave metal, the end corners of eachblade being slightly rounded, as shown in Fig. 2.

The guide-plate 12 is in oblong form and comprises a flat sheet-metalpiece of suitable thickness, either soft steel or wrought-iron beingemployed. The side edges of the guideplate 12 are notched oppositely andat spaced intervals, as clearly shown in Fig. 4, these notches d havingsuch width as to slightlyA exceed the breadth of the cutter-blades 11 land preferably have level bottoms d', as shown in Fig. 1. The notchingof the guide-plate 12 permits a plurality of guide-fingers 13 to remainintact with the main portion ofthe guide-plate, and, as shown, thesefingers are so spaced apart as to permit each finger to be disposedopposite a space between two of the cutter-blades 11.

The `ends of the guide-lingers 13 are preferably rounded, and the sideedges of the ncrevicesb will be formed between these edge portions ofthe fingers and the base portions of the blades 11 when the cutter-plateand guide-plate are secured together, as .at let.

The free ends of the guide-fingers 13 are preferably formed of differentwidths along one side of the sharpening device, whichvwill obviouslychange the degree of sloping inclination given to the main portions ofthe IOS side edges thereon, and thus afford V-shaped slots C, the sidesof which have dierent degrees of angular divergence.

It will be seen that by providing differentlyshaped slots c the deviceis well adapted to receive in said slots knife-blades which vary inthickness to sharpen their cutting edges, as will be further explained.

A bracket-support is provided for the combined plates 10 12 andconsistsof two arms 15, that may be formed on a connecting member 15, the latterhaving such length as will separate the arms a distance nearly equalwith the length of said plates, and the member 15a may be secured, uponthe guide-plate 12 by the same fastening devices 14 that hold theCutter-plate and guide-plate together.

The spaced arms 15 have their free ends cut into V shape, so that theplates 10 12 may be held inclined from a table-top A or the like if thesharpening device is seated thereon, as shown -in Fig. 1.

The scissors-sharpening device,which may also be used as a knife-bladesharpener, is formed at one end of the cutter-plate 10 and guide-plate12, as follows:

Y The cutter-plate 10 has a projecting tongue d, formed at the center onone or both ends, said tongue having parallel side edges CZ', thatterminate, respectively, at their inner ends in the bottoni edges oflike notches d2, formed at each side of the tongue. From the outer endsof the notches d2 the exterior side edges of the outermost blades 11 areslightly inclined outward to the free ends of said blades, as shown atd3 in Fig. 2. At acorresponding end of the guide-plate 12, whichprojects beyond the nearest pair of guide-fingers 13, a

' tongue e, the counterpart of the tongue d, is

formed at the center of the guide-plate, and when the cutter-plate 10and guide-plate 12 are secured together these tongues conform at theiredges e d.

vThe side edges e of the tongue e at their inner ends terminate in thesimilar-sloped edge portions e2, that define the end wall of theguide-plate at each side of the tongue, as clear-1y shown in Fig. 4, andwhen the plates 10 12 are joined together by the fastening devices 14the sloped edge portions e2 register with the slopes d3 on the end ofthe cutterplate 10. In using the sharpening implement for renewing thecuttingv edges of table-knives, carviugknives, or such knives as areemployed for domestic purposes the device is placed on a suitable levelsupport, such aS a tabletop A, near an edge A' of the same, so that theupper edge ofthe Sharpener will ineline toward said edge of the table.

Thel user of the implement holds the device firmly with one hand andwith the knife in the. other handv applies the cutting edge of theknife-blade, to the Sharpener by introducing it into an appropriate slotc at the heel 0f 'the knife-bladev and with. proper pressure downwarddraws the blade through the slot.

It will beseen that theinclined edge of the guide-finger 13, engagedwith one side of the knife-blade, will press the opposite side of theknife-blade at its edge forcibly against the sharp corner on the blade1l, forming the other edge of the slot engaged by the knife-blade.

The pulling of and downward pressure on the knife-blade will cause thematerial at the edge thereof to be shaved away, so as to render thisedge sharp after one or two passages of the knife-blade through theslot, and it will be seen that the crevice b at the bottom of theV-shaped slot c will prevent the cutting edge from vbeing dulled by animpinge upon either plate.

The cutting edge of the knife-blade may be completed by passing itthrough an adjacent slot, wherein the opposite side of the knife-bladewill be caused to have contact with an edge of acutter-blade 11, so thatthe knife-blade edge will be rendered smooth and sharp by a few momentsuse of the implement.

The provision of a soft-metal guide-plate to coact with thecutting-plate adapts the fingers on the guide-plate to serve as a meansfor holding and guidingthe knife-blade into engagement with the sharpedges of the cntting-blades 11 and avoids cutting action on the side ofthe knife-blade engaged therewith. This provision and the provision ofthe crevices b render the improved implement very efficient inoperation.

The different Widths afforded some of the slots c facilitate thesharpening of knifeblades that are tapered from back to cutting edge,have dierent thicknesses, and in some cases have their cutting edgesformed by beveling one side of the knife-blade at its edges. As in allsuch different forms for knifeblades, the improved Sharpener is adaptedto receive the blade of the knife and permit its edge to be effectivelypressed into engagement with the scraping edge on a cutter-blade 11 ifan appropriate slot c is occupied by the knife-blade.V

In using the implement as a scissors-sharpener a blade of the scissorsis seated on an appropriate cutting edge of the` tongue d at the heel ofthe scissors-blade, thus impinging the bevel cutting edge of thescissors-blade upon the tongue, while the side face of the scissorsbladeis held in contact with the sloped edge d3 of an engaged cutter-blade11. The scissors-blade is now successively drawn from heel to point overthe tongue d, so as to forcibly engage the sharp cornerl thereon, whichwill scrape sufficient material from the scissors-blade for effectiverenewal of the cutting edge of the blade thus operated upon.

After one blade of the scissors has been sharpened the implement isreversed in position, so, as to dispose the. opposite side edge of thetongue d uppermost, which will present an appropriate sharp cornerthereon for engagement with the other blade of the scis- IOO PDM)

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